


Merry Fisticuffs, Revisited

by CoffeeDrinker



Category: Gilmore Girls
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:42:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23601013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoffeeDrinker/pseuds/CoffeeDrinker
Summary: A one-shot (maybe) revisiting episode 7.10, picking up after Chris and Lorelai discuss possibly having another kid. Also posted to ff.net.
Relationships: Luke Danes/Lorelai Gilmore
Comments: 4
Kudos: 41





	1. Chapter 1

Lorelai quietly climbed out of bed, grabbed some clothes from the dresser, and headed into the bathroom. She'd slept horribly. She'd discovered it was difficult to sleep when a hundred thoughts were running through her head about her relationship with the man sleeping next to her.

_Let's make a baby,_ he'd said. So casually, like it wasn't a big deal.

And it shocked her. She didn't know why her husband bringing up a seemingly normal topic for husbands to bring up with their wives made her uncomfortable, but it did. She'd tried to pretend otherwise for his sake, but... no. She wasn't on board.

It was slightly after 5 in the morning, but she was now up and dressed. She threw on a coat and a hat, and she left the house. She told herself she just needed to walk and clear her head, but she was walking with purpose toward a specific destination, whether she wanted to admit it to herself or not.

She walked to the town square, heading straight for the diner. She hadn't been there in months, not since that fateful night of the ultimatum.

She approached the door and tried the handle. It was still locked, the diner wasn't open yet. But she knew Luke was probably inside getting ready to open, or would be soon, so she sat down on the steps and waited. She hugged her knees to her chest and closed her eyes and tried to keep warm.

Minutes passed by as she sat there shivering until she finally heard a noise inside. She jumped up and looked in the window, and saw Luke starting to take the chairs off the tables.

She knocked lightly on the door, and he looked over toward her. His eyes widened when he saw her face, and then he blinked a few times, as if he was seeing a mirage.

He walked over to the door and unlocked it. He pulled it open slowly, still sort of uncertain as to whether she was actually there.

"Can I come in?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah, okay," he replied, confused, and he gestured for her to come in.

She walked in, and he shut the door. They stood facing each other, and Luke folded his arms across his chest.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Uh, just taking a little casual stroll," Lorelai replied. "Getting some air."

"At 5:30 in the morning?" Luke asked. "And you ended up at a place you haven't been to in months? I repeat the question, what's going on?"

Lorelai exhaled a deep breath and stared at him nervously for what felt like a really long time. But he stood there and waited for her to speak.

"I'm sorry," Lorelai finally said to him.

"Sorry?"

"Yeah. That's what's going on. I came here at 5:30 in the morning to a place I haven't been to in months to tell the man who owns said place that I'm sorry." She swallowed hard as she added, "For, you know... that thing that happened the last night that I was here at this place." She looked around at the diner. "I'm glad it looks the same."

"Which part of that night?" Luke asked her, his arms still folded across his chest. "Which part are you sorry about?"

"All of it," she said softly, and she shook her head sadly. "That night was horrible, Luke. I shouldn't have given you an ultimatum, I shouldn't have gone to Christopher. I just... I was upset and I made stupid decisions that night." She looked down at the floor for a few seconds, and then at him. "I needed you to know that... that I'm sorry."

Luke really didn't know how to respond to that. It was the very last thing he would've ever expected to happen that morning, and he was still in shock. Finally, he just nodded at her. "Okay... thanks."

"You're welcome."

"I'm sorry, too," he added, his voice softening. "For how I handled the April thing... I should've told you right away. I should've let you be involved."

"I wanted to be," she told him.

"I know."

They stared at each other for a few seconds, and then Lorelai glanced at the door. "I guess I should get back home," she said.

"Yeah. And I gotta open up."

Lorelai looked over at the coffee maker, and then back at Luke. "I can't start coming back here," she told him. "I just... I _want_ to, but I can't."

Luke pursed his lips. "He told you not to," he guessed. "That why you're here so early? He's still asleep?"

"No, he didn't tell me not to," Lorelai replied.

"But he wouldn't like it," Luke said.

"No, he wouldn't," she confirmed.

"Well, then... I guess I'll see you around town."

Lorelai gave him a little nod. She took a step toward the door, and then stopped. She took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. She was finding it hard to walk out the door. She liked being around him again, she liked talking to him, she missed having him in her life.

She looked at him. He had been watching her, waiting to see if she would say more. He was going to offer to make a quick pot of coffee for her, and before he could even get a word out, her arms were around his neck and her lips were against his, kissing him tenderly.

He instinctively kissed her back. How could he not? He'd missed her. He'd been angry at her, but underneath that anger, he still cared for her, he still wanted her.

His arms started to wrap around her body before he came to his senses and he pulled back from her. "Lorelai, stop, you're married," he said softly; he didn't want to say it, but he knew he had to.

Lorelai's eyes were wide as she clapped a hand over her mouth. "Oh, my God," she said, the words muffled against her hand. "Oh, my God." There was a distraught look on her face, guilt about what she'd just done.

"Lorelai..." he started.

"I have to go," she quickly said, and she pulled open the door.

He watched after her as she rushed down the street toward her house, and when she was finally out of sight, he slowly shut the door.

. . . . .

. . . . .

That afternoon, Lorelai and Chris met with Emily and the party planner for a food and wine tasting, and the awkwardness was embarrassing. Chris was upset and his attitude toward Lorelai aggravated her enough to almost completely erase any guilt she'd felt about kissing Luke that morning.

That evening she stayed late at the inn doing inventory, and when she left, she didn't drive straight home. She drove to the diner, and as she parked her Jeep on the street behind Luke's truck, she noticed some holiday decorations in the square had been knocked over.

She walked to the diner, which had the Closed sign up, but luckily the door was still unlocked.

"We're closed, read the sign," Luke's voice called from the kitchen when he heard the bell. He stepped out of the kitchen to see who was there, and much like that morning, was shocked to see her. He was holding ice wrapped in a towel against his face, and he slowly lowered it to reveal his reddened cheek.

Lorelai's eyes widened and she walked toward the counter. "What happened to you?"

"You told him about the kiss?" Luke asked her.

"What? What are you talking about?" Lorelai asked narrowing her eyes, and then she gasped. "Did Chris do that?"

"Yeah. What did you think was gonna happen when you told him?" he snapped.

"I didn't tell him, I swear," Lorelai told him. "No one knows but you and me. Did he say anything?"

"Neither of us did," Luke replied. "We just locked eyes across the square, walked toward each other, and started fighting near the gazebo. Not a word was said. I just assumed it was about the kiss."

Lorelai glanced out the window. "That explains the mess out there."

"What are you doing here?" Luke asked her. "You said you couldn't come back here."

"I don't know," she admitted. "I was working late, and then... I drove here."

"Yeah, well, your husband's probably waiting for you at home... hopefully with his own bruised face," Luke said.

"He's kind of in a particularly snippy mood today, so I'm not exactly in a rush to get home."

"Well, he took his mood out on me, so he's probably feeling pretty good now."

Lorelai frowned sympathetically. "I'm sorry."

Luke dropped the towel of ice on the counter. "Well, since I sucker punched him a few months ago, I probably had it coming." He nodded toward the coffee maker. "Little bit of coffee left if you want it."

Lorelai's eyes wandered over to the coffee maker. She hadn't had his coffee in so long, and just the thought of it was making her salivate. "Sure... thanks." She took off her jacket and sat down on a stool.

Luke poured her the coffee, and then walked over to the door and locked it. He didn't want anyone else thinking they were open.

He started lifting chairs on top of tables, and she turned around in her stool to face him while sipping her coffee. "You look dressed up," she remarked, and she suddenly felt a pang of jealousy that he was out on a date.

"I met with a lawyer today," Luke replied.

Lorelai's eyes widened. "What? Why?"

"I have to sue Anna to get partial custody of April," he replied, and then he shook his head. "I don't really wanna talk about it right now, though, okay?"

"Oh, okay." She looked down at the floor, and then at her coffee cup. "Still the best coffee in town."

"Thanks."

They were quiet as Luke continued lifting chairs, and Lorelai drank her coffee. She sat there, her mind spinning with things she wanted to say to him, but she kept talking herself out of it. She kept telling herself she should go home, she should go talk to Chris first.

Luke interrupted her thoughts to tell her he was going to get the broom from the back, and when he walked away, she immediately jumped off her stool and followed him.

He went into the storage room, grabbed the broom, and when he turned toward the door to leave, he was startled to see her in the doorway. "Whoa," he replied, jumping a little. "Jesus."

"Sorry." Lorelai stepped into the room and stood in front of him. "I realized something today and I just need to get it out."

Luke felt weirdly nervous. "Okay."

"I realized that I didn't hesitate with you," Lorelai said. "I hesitated with him, but not with you, and that means something."

Luke cocked his head a little with confusion, waiting for her to explain what that meant.

"When you mentioned wanting us to have kids, I didn't hesitate to say yes," Lorelai explained. "I wanted a family with you."

Luke exhaled a sigh and shook his head. "Lorelai, stop."

"And when he asked me last night, I hesitated," Lorelai continued. "I didn't get that same excited feeling that I got when you brought it up."

"Why are you telling me this?" he asked, starting to get a little angry. He let the broom fall to the floor. "Why are you making this harder than it has to be? What good does it do talking about things we missed out on?"

"Because I still want them!" she exclaimed, and then she softened her voice as she added, "With you, not him... I want them with _you_."

"Well, you're with _him_ now," he reminded her. "So, that ship has sailed."

"Ships come back all the time," Lorelai said. "That's why there are docks and ports and marinas, for ships to sail back to after they've left."

Luke shrugged at her. "I don't know what you want me to say here, Lorelai. You're married to another man. You need to figure that out."

"I did figure it out," Lorelai told him. "Tonight, in between counting hundreds of items at the inn, I was debating in my head whether or not it was worth fighting to stay in a marriage that my heart isn't truly in just so I wouldn't look like a fool who couldn't make yet another relationship work, and I decided... it's not." She exhaled a soft sigh. "It's not worth it. I don't want to work extra hard just to be in an unhappy marriage. I have to end it."

"Okay, well, then end it," Luke told her.

"I will," she told him. "It's done, it's over. I just wanted to make sure you knew that I'm going to end it."

"No, you wanted to make sure that I'd be here waiting for you when you do," he countered.

Lorelai blinked a few times, and then took a step closer to him. "Will you be?" she asked with hopefulness.

Luke's eyes stared into hers. They were bright and blue and beautiful and sincere. God, he'd missed them, missed the way she looked at him when they were together. He missed her smile and her lips and her hair and her smell and everything about her. And now she was standing there telling him that she still wanted to be with him.

He'd had a rough day, and knew he'd have a long journey ahead of him with the custody situation, and the prospect of having her back in his life was the light in his dark tunnel of a day.

He leaned in and kissed her, a kiss she returned with passion. She moaned when she felt his tongue brush against hers, and chills rushed down her spine. Despite their months apart and all that had happened between them, the connection she felt with him was still the strongest she'd ever felt with anyone.

Their lips parted, and he pulled at the tie at her waist, loosening her wrap dress. She quickly pulled her arms out of the dress and shimmied it off of her. Their lips reconnected and his hands started caressing her body. He sucked on her neck, nibbled on her ear, and when he took off her bra, his mouth went to her chest.

She was moaning softly as he delicately used his tongue, lips, and teeth on her breasts, reminding her how good he was at foreplay. He always took time to build up her arousal, to make sure every inch of her body received plenty of attention. Not everyone was good at that, she'd realized.

After a few minutes, Luke stepped back to take off his shirt, and Lorelai took off her boots and her pantyhose. Once she was down to her underwear, she started on his belt and pants, and he was soon stripped down to his boxers.

Luke lifted her up to sit on the table by the door, and stood in front of her. Her legs wrapped around his thighs, pulling him against her as their mouths connected once again. Their kisses were deep and passionate and left them both gasping for air every time they parted, and their hands were all over each other.

During a brief oxygen break, Lorelai started to slip her fingers down the front of his boxers, and Luke gently put his hand on her wrist to stop her. "Wait," he said, still panting for breath.

Lorelai looked at him expectantly.

He knew they should stop. He knew they could both end up regretting this. He wasn't the type to cheat on a partner or have an affair with an unavailable woman. But God, he'd missed her, he wanted her, and he wouldn't be able to say no to her if this was what she wanted.

"Are you sure about this?" Luke asked her. "You sure this is what you want?"

"Yes, I'm sure," Lorelai quickly replied, not wanting to overthink it. She needed this. She needed _him_.

He let go of her wrist, and she reached her hand into his boxers and wrapped her fingers around his cock. Luke groaned and leaned in to kiss her again, and he started rubbing his fingers against the front of her underwear. It wasn't long before his boxers and her underwear were frantically pulled off.

Lorelai was perched on the edge of the table, her naked body quivering with arousal. Her legs were spread for him, and Luke slipped his finger between her folds to check her wetness.

As she let out a soft moan at his touch, Luke raised an eyebrow. "You're _so_ wet."

"Gee, I wonder why," she joked.

Luke paused for a second. He looked down at his finger between her legs, and then back at her face. "Does _he_ make you this wet?"

Lorelai cocked her head to the side, surprised at the question. "Luke... come on."

"Does he?" he asked, and he pushed his finger in a little deeper, making her gasp.

"Oh, God," she moaned toward the ceiling. "Jesus, Luke."

He gently started thrusting his finger into her, slowly moving it in and out. "I just wanna know," Luke said. "Do you get this turned on for him?"

"Luke, please," Lorelai said softly. "This isn't a competition." She said it to him as much as she was saying it to herself, because it was so hard not to compare the two. She nodded toward his hand between her legs. "Don't you have something else you'd rather be doing than talking about him? Let's focus on that, please?"

Luke obligingly dropped it. He guided himself to her opening and rubbed the tip of his cock against her folds. "You want this?" he asked her, and she moaned in anticipation.

Lorelai nodded eagerly. "Yes, I want it."

"You're sure?" he asked, dragging it methodically up and down her lips. He let his head dip ever so slightly into her and then he pulled it back out and continued stroking her with it.

The sensations rushing through her body were the most intense she'd felt in a long time, and Lorelai felt like she was going to burst. "Please, Luke..."

Luke leaned his face close to hers, kissing her before he said, "You know I like to hear you say it."

Lorelai stared into his eyes for a moment before she said, "I want you inside me." She knew it wasn't exactly what he wanted, but it was a start.

Luke cocked his head to the side, waiting for more.

The fact that he was teasing her and making her wait was turning her on even more. She leaned in close to his ear and purred, "I want you to fuck me."

Luke pushed forward and entered her in one swift motion, and she gasped and moaned, "Oh, my God!"

It had been months since they were together intimately, but it felt like yesterday. It felt so right, so comfortable. He felt so good inside of her. They were still for a moment before she ran her hand over his face and whispered, "I missed you."

"I missed you, too," he replied. She cradled his neck in her hands and pulled him into a kiss. When they parted, he ran his fingers through her long, wavy hair. "You're so beautiful."

Lorelai smiled. "Thank you." He was always good at complimenting her, he always made her feel sexy.

Luke pulled out of her and gently eased himself back in, and continued thrusting into her at a slow pace. They kissed a lot, they smiled, they told each other how good it felt... and they both temporarily ignored how incredibly wrong this was.

This was not Lorelai's intention when she drove to the diner that night. She wanted to see him, to talk to him, to let him know what was going through her head. She didn't intend to be unfaithful, that was not the plan... but she got lost in the moment.

And now, overwhelmed with how amazing it felt to be with him again, she felt guilty for _not_ feeling guilty enough about her actions.

Luke stayed at a slow pace for awhile, trying to make their time together last as long as he could. But his pace eventually picked up, and their moans and groans grew louder and more frequent. It drove him crazy to once again hear her moan his name over and over. He never thought he'd experience that again.

Luke still knew her like the back of his hand... he knew when she was getting close and knew exactly when and how to use his fingers to send her over the edge. Watching her climax while her moans of pleasure echoed through the storage room was almost enough to make him explode.

Once she had settled down from her high, she leaned back to steady herself on her forearms on the table. She knew what to expect from him, she knew he'd finish roughly... strong and hard and fast.

She was right, and he began slamming into her with a force she was glad she'd prepared for. It was rough and felt amazing, and she couldn't stop moaning. His motions were intensely quick until he spilled inside of her with the sexiest grunt she'd heard in a long time.

She sat up straight and wrapped her arms around his neck as they kissed passionately. He caressed her back and her sides and her front, savoring the physical contact with her that he'd been missing for months.

They kissed for a while before they started to get dressed. As Lorelai finished up by pulling on her boots, Luke asked her, "How do you feel?"

Lorelai thought it over for a moment, and then shrugged with uncertainty. "I really don't know... nervous, I guess."

Luke narrowed his eyes. "You're not going to tell anyone about tonight, right?"

"Of course not," Lorelai replied. "I'm not nervous about people reacting to _this_. I'm nervous about having to go home and tell my husband that I'm ready to end the marriage."

Saying the words out loud finally brought her back to reality, and she glanced down at the ring on her finger. "Oh, God." She looked at Luke, a pained look on her face. "Oh, my God."

"It's okay," Luke assured her, rubbing her arms.

Lorelai shook her head. "I can't believe we just did that."

"We got caught up in the moment," he told her. "It was an accident."

"We _accidentally_ ended up naked in the storage room and you _accidentally_ ended up inside me?" Lorelai replied with a scoff. "That's what you call an accident?"

"Okay, sorry, wrong word," Luke agreed.

Lorelai groaned at herself. "He's been an immature ass today, but he didn't deserve that. What is wrong with me?"

"He doesn't have to know," Luke said. "You can end it without telling him what happened. It'll be easier that way for both of you. Trust me on that."

Lorelai stared at Luke for a few moments, pondering, distracted, lost in thought.

Luke's eyes suddenly widened at her silence. "You're not going to end it."

That snapped her out of her daze, and she gasped. "What?"

"You're changing your mind."

"I am _not_ changing my mind. I know this marriage isn't right, I know it has to end." Lorelai exhaled a deep breath and added, "I'm just thinking about how this is a pattern of my relationships ending. I went to him when you and I were over, and now to you when he and I are over... both with not exactly the greatest timing."

"Yeah, that pattern crossed my mind, too," Luke admitted.

Lorelai shook her head in disbelief and exhaled a disappointed sigh. "Why? Why do I do that? I don't mean to do it... I didn't come here tonight for sex, and yet that's where it went."

Luke shrugged a little. "Maybe you subconsciously did. Maybe your mind encourages you to do something big that will put an end to a relationship once you decide you're done with it."

Lorelai nibbled on her bottom lip for a moment. "You think that's what I did with us by going to Chris," she stated.

"Yeah, I do."

Lorelai swallowed hard, and started to get emotional about how that must've felt for him. "I didn't mean to hurt you like that, Luke. I was just... I was so upset and frustrated and I felt like I had already lost you."

"So you went to him to make sure that you did lose me," he finished.

"I guess, maybe, subconsciously. I don't know. But I knew we were done when I went there, in my mind we were definitely over." Lorelai groaned and covered her face with her hands again. "I'm sorry that I'm horrible. That was the worst night of my life."

Luke put his hands on her arms. "Lorelai, look at me."

Lorelai slowly removed her hands and looked up at him.

"There were a lot of things going on back then that were confusing for both of us," Luke said. "And whatever happened... happened, we can't take it back. We can just make sure it doesn't happen again."

"How?"

"We talk to each other," Luke told her. "We communicate. We tell each other when we're frustrated. We don't hide stuff."

Lorelai hesitated for a moment before saying what she wanted to say, but it had to be done. "We let each other be involved with the other's kid?" she asked hopefully.

Luke exhaled a deep breath as he nodded. "Yes, we do. I mean it. And yes, I know that's what started making things weird between us, I know that now. Things will be different, I promise."

Lorelai smiled at him. "Okay." She stepped closer to him and wrapped her arms around him. He hugged her and rubbed her back comfortingly, and kissed the top of her head.

When they separated, they shared a kiss, and Lorelai asked, "Can I freshen up in the bathroom before I go?"

"Sure. I'll wait for you out front."

Lorelai headed down the hall to the bathroom, and Luke headed out front to the diner. He walked over to the window, making sure nobody was around to see her leave. The town looked dark and deserted.

She returned from the back and retrieved her coat from the stool where she'd left it. She pulled it on, reached into the pocket for her keys, and then he walked her out to her Jeep. She got into the driver's seat and put the window down.

"So... um... you'll let me know how it goes?" he asked.

"I'll fill you in tomorrow when I come in for breakfast," she told him, and she nodded toward the diner. "Save me a good table."

Luke smiled and nodded. "You got it." He leaned in to kiss her. "See you tomorrow."

"You'll see me tomorrow," she confirmed, and after he took a few steps back from the Jeep, she pulled away and headed home.

. . . . .

. . . . .


	2. Chapter 2

Lorelai drove home from the diner, and as she pulled up in front of her house, she noticed her mother's car was in the driveway and Christopher's was not.

Lorelai walked into the house and called, "Mom? Are you in here?"

"In the kitchen," Emily's voice replied.

Lorelai walked to the kitchen, confused, unable to fathom a reason why her mother was at her house. Emily was sitting at the table with a cup of tea.

"Lorelai, hello," Emily greeted her.

"Uh, hi, Mom," Lorelai replied. "What are you doing here? It's late."

"I stopped by to talk to you," Emily replied. "Nobody was home when I arrived, so I decided to wait outside for a bit and see if I could catch you. It was only a few minutes before Christopher came home and invited me in."

Lorelai's eyes widened slightly. "Chris is here? I didn't see his car."

"He _was_ ," Emily replied. "He let me in, and then went up to pack for his business trip. He just left a few minutes ago."

Lorelai stared at her for a moment to process that information because she had no idea what Emily was talking about. She realized Chris was probably still mad at her and made up an excuse to get away from the house for the night.

Lorelai recovered quickly from her confusion and nonchalantly replied, "Oh, right, his business trip."

"He said you'd probably be home from the inn soon, and that I was free to wait until you got here. I hope that's all right."

"Sure, but I'll be checking my jewelry box to see if anything's missing." Lorelai took off her jacket. "You happen to see a dog around here?"

"He went upstairs with Christopher when he went to pack and never came back down," Emily replied.

"Oh, he's probably hiding, he doesn't like strangers," Lorelai said.

"Quite a watch dog," Emily said dryly.

Lorelai clasped her hands together. "So, uh... did your phone break, or were you just in the neighborhood and felt like having a chat, or... "

Emily's face grew serious. "I have some advice I wanted to share with you in person," she said as she stood up from the table.

And for the next few minutes, Lorelai stood there in the kitchen silently biting her tongue while Emily explained to her that marriage is about compromise and is not often about being happy, and that she didn't want Lorelai to ruin things with Chris.

Lorelai didn't say anything, she didn't want to get into it with her mother. She just calmly let Emily say what she drove all the way to Stars Hollow to say.

After Emily had said her piece, she picked up her jacket and purse, thanked Lorelai for the tea, and headed out the back door.

Lorelai immediately went upstairs to get ready for bed. She tried to call Chris, and it went right to voicemail. She left him a message to call her right away.

She had known Chris for a long time, she knew his good qualities and his not-so-good qualities. What she also knew about him was that he was not the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. As much as she may have tried to convince herself otherwise, as much as he loved her, as much as her parents loved them together, as much as it seemed like fate for Rory's parents to finally be together... he wasn't _the one_. She knew that... now she just had to tell _him_ that.

. . . . .

. . . . .

The next morning, Lorelai woke up feeling nervous for reasons unrelated to the fact that she hadn't heard from Chris since the previous afternoon. It would be her first official visit to the diner during actual business hours, and she knew it would be a hot topic of gossip.

She drove to the diner, parked the Jeep, and glanced through the diner's front window. When she saw Luke inside, her heart started to race a little, and she took a few deep breaths. She tried to calm those feelings of attraction that were starting to simmer, she had to play it cool and casual.

She got out of the Jeep and slowly walked toward the door. She pushed it open, walked inside, and all eyes turned toward her. If she was walking into a party, there would've been a screeching halt to the music.

Luke walked over to her from behind the counter. "Hey," he greeted her, also trying to play it cool and casual.

"Hi."

Luke gestured to a table by the window. "Have a seat. I'll get you some coffee."

"Thanks."

Luke headed to the counter, and Lorelai sat down at the table. She took off her jacket and draped it over the back of her chair, and then glanced around the room to see if people were still looking.

She met Miss Patty's gaze, who smiled at her. "Been a long time since you've been in here, huh?"

Lorelai smiled and nodded. "Yeah, it has."

Babette was sitting with Patty and added, "It's so good to see you back, doll."

"Thanks," Lorelai said, smiling.

Luke brought a cup of coffee to the table. He tried to avoid eye contact with her because he knew people were watching, and he couldn't control the lust in his eyes when he looked at her. He pulled out his order pad and asked, "What can I get you?"

Lorelai looked over at the specials' board. "I'll take the special breakfast platter."

Luke scribbled something on his order pad and placed it nonchalantly on the table. "Okay. Be right back."

Luke walked to the kitchen and relayed the order to Caesar, and then walked back out, announcing loud enough for the patrons to hear, "Gotta run to the market. I'll be right back."

"Okay, boss," Caesar replied from the kitchen.

Lorelai eyed Luke curiously as he grabbed his coat from the coat rack and walked out of the diner without giving her another glance. She watched him walk down the sidewalk, and when he was out of sight, she confusedly and disappointedly picked up her coffee and took a sip.

As she set the mug back down, the receipt he'd left on the table caught her eye, and she turned it toward her to read it. It said 'Alley.' That's it. Nothing else.

It took her a moment to get it. She slowly folded the receipt and put it in her pocket, and then took a sip of coffee. She waited a minute or two, and then casually stood up from her chair. She asked Patty and Babette to watch her coat while she ran to the bathroom.

Lorelai walked to the back, past the bathroom, past the storage room, down the hall to the door that led to the alleyway behind the diner. She pushed open the door and stepped outside. The area directly behind the diner had a fence on one side and a large dumpster on the other, giving it some seclusion and privacy.

Luke was waiting for her outside the door, and he looked relieved when he saw her. "Oh, good, you saw the note."

"I did," she said, hugging her arms to her chest as she shivered in the cold winter air. "This is a very cold day for an outdoor clandestine meeting."

Luke stepped closer to her. "Sorry. But I really needed to get this out of my system." He pressed his lips against hers, kissing her deeply, a kiss she eagerly returned.

When they separated, Lorelai hummed contently. "Mmm, well, thanks for warming me up a little." She glanced around nervously. "But this is gonna cause suspicion. You know everyone's watching us in there trying to see how we interact, and now we've both disappeared at the same time. That looks fishy."

"We went in different directions," Luke pointed out. "Plus, half of 'em in there probably think I just left because I resent you for the breakup or something."

Lorelai cocked her head to the side. "Wow, you do know how to sweet-talk a girl, huh?" she teased.

Luke smirked. "Sorry. I just wanted to get you alone for a minute and see how things went last night."

Lorelai grimaced and then she gave him an apologetic look. "Well..."

The smile on Luke's face immediately faded. "You didn't do it." He took a few steps back from her.

"I _wanted_ to," Lorelai insisted. "But he wasn't home when I got there. He stayed out overnight, and he turned off his phone so I couldn't even get ahold of him. He just up and left and didn't tell me where he was going."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Nice husband you got there."

Lorelai stepped closer to him and gripped his jacket with both hands. "Don't be mad at me, please. I had every intention of ending it last night. It's not my fault that I couldn't." She pouted at him.

"I'm not mad at you," he replied, and he rubbed his temple. "I was just hoping for better news this morning."

"I know."

"And you don't know when he's gonna be back?"

"Nope. I'm guessing he probably went to his mom's last night for some space, and maybe he'll be going to work today, but I have no idea." Lorelai exhaled a deep sigh. "Would've been nice of him to leave a note or something, but he didn't, so this is where we are. I'll do it as soon as I can, I promise."

Luke nodded understandingly. "Okay. Well, it is what it is." He nodded toward the door. "You should get back in there. I'm gonna run to the market."

"Okay." She reached for his hand. "You're really not mad, right?"

Luke shook his head. "No, not mad." He leaned in and kissed her cheek. "I'll see you in a little bit."

Lorelai nodded and watched him walk away, and then she headed back into the diner and sat down at her table.

Miss Patty and Babette were getting ready to leave, and they stopped at Lorelai's table. "So, we'll be seeing you in here more often now, huh?" Miss Patty asked.

Lorelai smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I'm making a comeback."

"Alone, dear?" Miss Patty asked. "Or will Christopher be joining you now and then?"

The question surprised her, and Lorelai shrugged uncomfortably. "Oh, um, you know, maybe if he's in the mood for diner food, he'll pop in, too. I'm not sure. We'll see."

"It can't be easy for a man to interact with his wife's ex-fiancé," Babette said.

"Yeah, probably not," Lorelai agreed. "But we're all acting civil." Miss Patty and Babette shared a look, and Lorelai narrowed her eyes. "What?"

Babette lowered her voice. "Well, we noticed Luke's got a bit of a shiner this morning."

"You know anything about that?" Miss Patty asked. "He made up an excuse, but we didn't believe it."

"He didn't get it from me, I swear," Lorelai declared, and she held up her hands. "I wouldn't risk breaking a nail."

"Not you, we mean... Christopher," Babette said. "You think he and Luke got into a fight or something?"

"Does Chris have any new marks on his body, any bruises?" Miss Patty added.

Lorelai had the answers they were looking for, but knew better than to share them. Instead, she just played naive. "Oh, well, he actually left for a business trip last night, so I'm not sure," she replied. "But I'll be sure to check his body when he gets back and I'll let you know."

"Okay. And we'll ask around town, see if anyone saw anything," Babette added.

"You do that, let me know what you find out. Bye, guys," Lorelai said, giving them a wave as they walked out of the diner.

Caesar brought over her food and she started eating, glancing out the window as she waited for Luke to return. He finally did, with a bag of groceries to really sell his impromptu market run, and after putting the bag in the kitchen, he grabbed a pot of coffee and made the rounds refilling mugs.

"Refill?" he asked as he walked up to her table.

"Yes, please," she replied, and she lowered her voice as she said, "So, um, Patty and Babette were wondering about your face."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Yeah, they didn't buy that I walked into a door."

"You're not really the 'walk into a door' type of guy," Lorelai said. "So I wouldn't buy it either."

"Do I wanna know what type of guy I am?" he asked her.

Lorelai smiled up at him, glanced around, and then quietly replied, "Obviously, we just found out you're the 'beat up a man and then seduce his wife' type of guy."

Luke smirked, and then glanced around nervously, like he was spending too much time talking to her. "I shouldn't be over here for too long. We'll talk later?" he asked, and Lorelai nodded. He gave her a nod and reluctantly walked away.

. . . . .

. . . . .

That afternoon, Lorelai and Sookie were talking in the kitchen at the inn when Michel walked in. He unenthusiastically announced, "The flannel man you almost married is here to see you."

Lorelai and Sookie shared a look of confusion, and then Lorelai asked Michel, "You mean Luke?"

"Do you know anyone else who fits that description?" Michel dryly replied.

Sookie narrowed her eyes. "What's he doing here?"

Lorelai shrugged with uncertainty, because she genuinely wasn't sure. "Not sure. I went into _his_ work today, maybe he's repaying the gesture?" She'd told Sookie about how she made her official return to the diner that morning. She left out the fact that she'd also visited the diner yesterday, despite how much she wanted to tell her.

"Are you okay?" Sookie asked. "Do you want me to come with you?"

Lorelai shook her head. "I'm fine. I'll be right back."

Lorelai headed out to the reception area where Luke was waiting for her, and he looked serious as he told her he had something he needed to discuss with her. She felt a wave of nervousness as she led him to the library.

"This isn't about what you probably think it's about," Luke started, and then he went on to explain about his custody case and asked her if she could write a character reference.

She agreed, of course, and he gave her the address of where to send it. "I'll try to start it today if I have some time," she told him.

"No rush. It's not due for a few weeks, we don't even have the court date yet," Luke told her. "But I talked to my lawyer again today and he said it's something we'd need eventually, so I figured I'd put the request out there. So... whenever you have a chance."

Lorelai nodded understandingly. "Sure, no problem."

"Also gave me an excuse to come see you," he said quietly, and she smiled.

They stared at each other for a moment, and it was hard for Lorelai to look at him without having flashbacks to the night before. His mouth against hers, his hands caressing her, the feeling of pleasure when their bodies connected.

Lorelai quickly stood up from the couch and tried to shake off her thoughts. "Uh, so, I guess I should get back to, um, uh... the um," she stammered, and gestured in the general direction of the reception area. "You know, to the desk... to work. Back to work."

"Yeah, I should go," he said, standing up. "I'm gonna go. I'll get going."

They shared a knowing smile while walking toward the door. Luke gave her a little nod goodbye, and after he left, Lorelai headed to the kitchen.

As soon as she walked in, Sookie, who had been impatiently waiting for her to return, said, "Okay, fill me in. What was that about?"

"He's involved in a custody battle for April and he needs me to write him a character reference," Lorelai explained.

Sookie's eyes widened. "Wow. That's intense."

"Yeah."

"Is that gonna be hard?" Sookie asked. "Is it gonna drudge up old feelings... old memories?"

Lorelai shook her head as she picked a strawberry from a bowl on the counter. She bit into it and chewed it for a few seconds, then looked at Sookie. "Um, I've actually been doing some drudging over the past few days. You know, thinking about the past."

"Oh yeah?" Sookie distractedly replied as she started whipping some heavy cream in a bowl.

"Yeah." Lorelai glanced around, and then moved closer to Sookie and lowered her voice. "Like, about Luke and I."

Sookie abruptly stopped whipping and she looked up at Lorelai with wide eyes. "What?"

"Yeah."

Sookie put down the bowl, wiped her hands on a dishtowel, and grabbed Lorelai's arm. "We'll be right back," Sookie announced loudly to her kitchen staff, and she dragged Lorelai all the way through the inn to her office.

Sookie shut the door, and then turned to look at Lorelai. "Talk to me."

Lorelai perched herself on the edge of her desk and folded her arms across her chest. She exhaled a deep breath. "I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, and I came to the conclusion that... well... I don't think Chris and I are gonna work out. We're not meant to be married to each other. And at first I thought we could work on it and try to make things work, but I realized that it's not something that can be fixed. It just doesn't _feel_ right. I'm not happy."

Sookie's eyes were wide and she was speechless for a few seconds.

"Say something," Lorelai prompted her.

"I want to, I really do, but I'm not sure if I should apologize or congratulate you," Sookie said, shaking her head. "Because you don't look as distraught as I would imagine a woman ending her marriage would be. So... is this a good thing or a bad thing? Tell me first, and then I'll react accordingly."

Lorelai shrugged. "I think it's a little of both. It's for the best, but it's also sad, obviously. I mean, Chris and I have such a history together. Telling him that I'm done with us is going to be hard, even if it's the right thing to do."

Sookie gasped. "He doesn't know yet?"

"No, I haven't seen him since I figured this all out. We had a tiff, if you can even call it that, and he got all attitudey on me, and then he disappeared last night without telling me where he went. Which goes to show you the maturity level I'm dealing with here."

Sookie frowned. "That's tough, I'm sorry. Men are ridiculous."

"Yeah. Some of them."

"Okay, so, tell me what's going on with Luke," Sookie said. "Are you ending it with Chris because you still have a thing for Luke?"

"I would've ended it with Chris even if I didn't still have a thing for Luke, but yes... I do still have a thing for Luke," Lorelai told her, and then she paused a moment before adding, "And he still has a thing for me."

Sookie's eyes were wide again. "You already talked about it with Luke?" She gestured toward the front of the inn. "Is that what just happened out there?"

"No, it didn't just happen here." Lorelai inhaled a deep breath and covered her face with her hands. She peeked through her fingers at Sookie. "I'm going to tell you something that you _cannot_ tell anyone, ever, for the rest of your life, and you also cannot judge me." Lorelai had told Luke she wouldn't mention the storage room encounter to anyone, but she really needed to talk about it with someone, and she knew she could trust Sookie.

"I've never judged you, honey," Sookie said. "I promise I won't say a word."

"Even to Jackson," Lorelai added.

"Even to Jackson."

Lorelai dropped her hands from her face. "Okay. Yes, Luke and I talked about it, and when I say that we _talked about it_ , I mean that we may have done more than just _talk_. A lot more."

Sookie's jaw dropped, and she clapped both of her hands over her mouth.

"No judging!" Lorelai quickly added, wagging a finger at her.

Sookie walked closer to Lorelai and whispered, "You had sex with Luke?"

Lorelai nodded. "Last night... in the storage room at the diner."

"Oh, my God!" Sookie exclaimed, and she spun around in a circle and started pacing the room. "Oh, my God. Oh, my God." She walked back over to Lorelai and excitedly asked, "Wait, does this mean that you two are gonna be a couple?!"

"Yes, it does." Lorelai paused a moment. "After I break up with my husband, which I should've done prior to actually starting the coupling activities with Luke." She groaned loudly. "Ugh, I'm terrible."

"Things happen," Sookie said with a casual shrug, trying to make Lorelai feel better. "Sometimes things get a little out of order."

"We just got caught up in the moment," Lorelai explained, and then she rolled her eyes at herself. "I keep saying that like it's an excuse, but I know it's not. But yes, that's what happened... in between me figuring out my marriage was over and me actually _telling_ _my husband_ that it's over... there was some poor decision making." She threw her hands in the air as she added, "Super poor... mondo poor... I mean, we weren't even safe!"

Sookie's eyes widened. "Wow, that's not your style."

" _That's_ how caught up in the moment I was," Lorelai said, shaking her head. "I mean, we weren't flying totally blind... I'm on the pill, so we were sort of safe, but you know me... I try to be _extra_ careful. I like multiple roadblocks."

"I know."

"And yet last night, I just..." Lorelai exhaled a sigh. "I don't know... it was Luke, and we were looking at each other, and suddenly, without giving it another thought..."

Sookie giggled. "There was sex!"

Lorelai raised an eyebrow at her response. "Boy, you are more supportive of this than I could've imagined," she teased. "You're almost making it seem like something to celebrate."

"Well, I know this is a huge thing you're dealing with, and I'm just trying to keep things light so you don't get too stressed out," Sookie said, wrinkling her nose. "And that might be strangely coming out as pro-adultery."

Lorelai smiled. "I appreciate the support, thank you."

"You're welcome. But wow, this is a lot to take in."

"Tell me about it."

"When are you gonna tell Chris?"

"When he comes back home, but he's not returning my calls, so I don't know when that's going to be," Lorelai replied. "I left him a message to call me."

"Is that all you said?"

"Yes, because while I haven't consulted Emily Post on the protocol for this, I'm pretty sure that ending a marriage is something that should be done in person and not communicated by a voicemail message."

Sookie nodded. "I think you're right. Good call."

Lorelai exhaled a heavy sigh. "So, that's the latest and greatest. Now I'm going to try to write a character reference for my sort-of-boyfriend while waiting for my husband to get back to me." She shook her head slightly. "God, I really am _terrible_... I'm legitimately the worst."

Sookie rubbed Lorelai's arm. "You're not, and it'll all work out. Keep me posted. And I'm sure this is a lot to deal with, so let me know if you need to talk some more, okay?"

Lorelai smiled appreciatively. "I will, thanks." She hugged Sookie. "And thank you for not judging."

"You got it, but I want details of the sex once this is all settled."

Lorelai smiled as she pulled back from the hug. "You got it."

. . . . .

. . . . .

Lorelai sat in her office and started to work on the character reference, and then went out front to the reception desk. She had left Chris two more messages that day, and she was still waiting for him to get back to her.

Although his sudden disappearance had caused Lorelai to be angry and frustrated at first, she was actually starting to get worried. She really had no idea where he was. Maybe he really did have a last minute business trip come up... he could be in another state right now for all she knew. She briefly considered calling his mother to check if he had actually gone to her house like she'd assumed.

Lorelai left the inn in the early afternoon and headed home. She was on the couch with Paul Anka, her feet up on the coffee table and her notepad on her lap when she finally got a call from Chris on her cell.

"Chris?" she quickly answered the phone.

"Yeah, it's me."

"Where are you? Where did you go last night?"

"I'm at work. I slept at my mom's."

"And you didn't think it would be a good idea to tell your wife your whereabouts?" Lorelai asked. She was speaking calmly. It had taken so long for him to get back to her that she didn't want to snap at him and risk him hanging up.

On the contrary, all of his replies were brusque and bitter. "I didn't think my wife would care very much about where I was."

"Tsk, Chris, come on," Lorelai said softly. "Of course I care. I was worried about you. I had no idea where you were. Why did you leave like that?"

"I was upset, I needed to think, I needed space."

"Then you go spend an hour at a bar getting some space, and then you come back home," Lorelai told him. "You don't pack a bag, tell my _mother_ you're going on a fake business trip, and then disappear without telling me where you're going. What kind of partnership is that?"

"Oh, I didn't realize _you_ were in charge of deciding how _I_ get space," Chris remarked tersely. "But I guess it makes sense since you decide everything else."

Lorelai exhaled a deep sigh into the phone and shook her head in annoyance. "Okay, I was trying to be amicable here and sensitive to how you're feeling, but we're clearly not on the same page."

"No, I guess not."

"I think maybe you need a little more space," Lorelai said. "Give it another day at your mom's, and when you're ready to have a mature discussion, come home so we can talk, okay? Bye."

Lorelai closed her flip phone and tossed it onto the couch. She took a few deep breaths to try to control her frustrated anger, then picked the phone back up again and dialed the diner.

"Hi," she greeted Luke when he answered. "Can you come over?"

"To your house? Right now?" Luke replied, and he glanced out the window. "Is that a good idea? It's still light out... people might see."

Lorelai glanced out the window, and then sighed softly into the phone. "You're right." She paused a beat. "Can you sneak over somehow?"

"Lorelai, what's up? Did something happen?"

Lorelai summarized her call with Chris, and then said, "I need a distraction."

Luke glanced around the diner, which was in its late-afternoon lull. "Well, I can't get away right now for too long, but I do have some time before the dinner rush. Why don't I call you back from the apartment and we'll just talk for a little. Okay?"

Lorelai smiled into the phone. "Okay."

They chatted for a bit on the phone about general things - the inn, Rory, Liz and TJ, Doula - before Luke had to get back to work. Before they hung up, she invited him to come over later that night after he closed up the diner.

He knew why she wanted him to come over later. It was obvious. And he _wanted_ to say yes, but he hesitated. He remembered how she looked down at the ring on her finger after their storage room encounter, how the guilt washed over her. He knew it would be better for them to wait until she'd talked to Chris and they were officially separated before they did anything like that again.

"Are you sure?" he asked her. "You felt guilty last night, Lorelai. I don't want you to keep feeling like that."

She was quiet for a moment before she asked, "Do _you_ feel it, the guilt?"

"Yeah, a little," Luke admitted. "And you're angry about how he was on the phone, so maybe you feel like you want to get back at him by doing it again, I don't know," he mused. "But I just don't want you to regret it. I think we need to draw a line for now."

"And which side of the line does luring me to the back alley for secret rendezvous kissing fall on?" she teasingly asked.

"The side of the line we shouldn't be on yet," Luke replied. "That was my fault. When I did that, I thought you had ended it with him already."

"And I still kissed you back even knowing I _hadn't_ ended it, so one of us has a higher moral ground than the other." Lorelai thought for a few seconds. "How about you come over as my friend, then, okay? We won't do anything bad, we won't cross the line, I promise... I just want to see you. Please?"

Luke agreed to come over after he closed up, and they said goodbye.

. . . . .

. . . . .

Lorelai tried to keep herself busy over the next few hours to pass the time. She did some housecleaning, she made herself some dinner, she watched television.

It was almost seven when she heard a car out front and she narrowed her eyes at the clock. It was too early for it to be Luke; plus, he'd told her he would walk over to be more discreet.

She suddenly started to get nervous that it was Chris, and she jumped up from the couch. She rushed over to the window and peeked outside, and smiled when she saw Rory getting out of her car.

Lorelai walked over to the front door and opened it. "Hey, kid," she called.

"Hey, Mom," Rory replied as she walked across the front yard. As she stepped into the house, she said, "I'm not interrupting anything, am I? I needed to get away for a night and not think about this situation with Lucy for awhile."

"No, you're not interrupting," Lorelai replied as she closed the door. "I was about to put on a movie, come join me."

They walked to the living room. "Where's Dad?" Rory asked. "His car's not out there."

Lorelai winced slightly. "Um... he's at his mom's. Just visiting for the night."

Rory narrowed her eyes. "For the night, like overnight? That seems weird. What's going on?"

Lorelai gestured toward her bedroom. "Go put your stuff down, I'm gonna go change into pajamas, and then I'll fill you in."

"Okay."

Lorelai grabbed her cell phone and went upstairs to the master bedroom. She got her pajamas and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. She dialed the diner.

"Luke's."

"It's me," Lorelai whispered.

"Why are you whispering?"

"Because I have a surprise visitor for the evening who might overhear me," Lorelai explained. "Rory just came by, she's gonna spend the night."

Luke raised an eyebrow. "Oh, okay." He paused a moment. "So that means I shouldn't... uh... later..."

"Right."

"Okay, got it. Thanks for the heads up."

Lorelai wasn't disappointed that Rory was there, but she _was_ a little bummed about not seeing him, and could tell he was bummed, too. "I'm sorry. But I'll see you tomorrow, okay? We'll come in for breakfast."

"Yup, okay. Have fun with Rory."

"Thanks. Bye."

"Bye."

Lorelai hung up the phone, changed her clothes, and went downstairs. Rory had changed into pajamas, too, and was now staring into the fridge.

"What are you in the mood for?" Lorelai asked.

"I'm thinking maybe microwave nachos," Rory replied.

"I'll get the chips." Lorelai walked over to the cabinet in the corner of the kitchen.

Rory grabbed some shredded cheese from the fridge and shut the door. They spread some tortilla chips on a plate, covered them with shredded cheese, and popped the plate in the microwave.

A few minutes later, they were sitting on the couch with drinks and the nachos, and Rory said, "So, tell me... what's going on with Dad?"

Lorelai exhaled a sigh. She had been so focused on telling Chris the news that she hadn't really thought about how hard it would be to tell Rory, and now she was nervous about how she would take it.

"Well, honey... I've been doing some thinking lately," Lorelai hesitantly started. "Like, hardcore 'thinking until my brain hurts' type of thinking. And... well... I'm just gonna come out and say it... I don't think it's going to be a happily-ever-after fairytale ending for your dad and me." She grimaced in preparation for Rory's reaction.

Rory's eyes widened. "What? Why? What happened?"

Lorelai shrugged. "It's just... it's not meant to be. I know a lot of people think it is because we created the most perfect child on the planet, but... sometimes things don't work out like you expect."

"Is that why Dad isn't here?"

Lorelai shook her head. "No, I actually haven't had a chance to tell him yet how I'm feeling. He took off yesterday after a disagreement and I haven't seen him since."

"What kind of disagreement?"

Lorelai hesitated for a moment, wondering just how much she should tell her daughter. Rory was an adult and could handle the truth, but Lorelai didn't like painting too bad a picture of her father, even when he deserved it.

Rory noticed Lorelai's contemplative face. "You either did something wrong and you don't want me to be mad at you, or Dad did something wrong and you're trying not to throw him under the bus."

Lorelai gasped. "How do you do that?"

"You've been giving me that look for years, Mom," Rory said. "You can tell me the truth, I wanna know exactly what happened."

"All right," Lorelai replied with a small sigh. "Well, we were going to sleep the other night and he brought up the subject of kids out of the blue, and I said _maybe_ I'd want another... I wasn't really sure, it caught me off guard. But when I didn't want to immediately make one... and I mean _immediately_ at that moment... he read into that and got weird and had an attitude with me the next day, which was yesterday, and then last night he went to his mom's."

Rory's eyes widened with surprise. "Wow."

"Without telling me," Lorelai added. "He packed a bag and left, didn't tell me where he was going or that he was even leaving _at all_ , and I kept calling him and he kept ignoring me."

Rory shook her head in disbelief. "Oh, my God. That's crazy. I'm sorry he's acting like that."

"And I've spent a lot of time thinking about things, and I realized... it's not right, he and I." Lorelai reached out and squeezed Rory's hand. "You have to trust me, babe... I'm not just basing this on the disagreement we had or because of how your dad's acting right now. It's deeper than that, it's much, much deeper. I really wanted this to work, I wanted it really badly. And before you ask the obvious question about whether I've thought about putting in more effort to try to make it work... yes, I have. But you just _know_ in your heart when you're in a situation that isn't going to feel right no matter how hard you try. And that's where I am now."

Rory nodded understandingly, and she frowned at Lorelai. "I'm sorry, Mom. I know it had to be hard for you to make that decision."

Lorelai nodded. "It was. And the fact that I've made it and I can't tell him about it because he's not here makes it a little more frustrating."

"I bet. You haven't heard from him at all?"

"He finally called this afternoon and confirmed that he did go to his mom's house," Lorelai replied. "And he was short with me and still angry, and I told him to stay at his mom's another night before he came home to talk." She shook her head slightly. "I don't really get it. The argument we had wasn't big enough to warrant this type of response. I wouldn't even call it an _argument._.. we talked calmly, but he didn't like my responses and just got mad."

"Well, maybe it's deeper than just the argument for him, too. Maybe he could sense that you're having second thoughts and that's upsetting him and he doesn't know how to deal with it," Rory suggested. "I mean, you're the love of his life, Mom. If he thinks he's losing you, the one thing he's been chasing after his whole life, that's gotta be hard for him, you know?"

Lorelai frowned and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I guess." She exhaled a sigh. "Relationships are hard."

"Yeah." Rory offered her the plate of nachos. "Here."

Lorelai picked up a chip and took a bite.

Rory gestured toward the coffee table. "You making a Christmas list?"

"What?" Lorelai followed her gaze to the open notepad on the table. "Oh, no, actually... um, I have to write a character reference." She paused a moment before adding, "For Luke."

Rory narrowed her eyes. "For Luke? Why?"

Lorelai explained to her about the custody case, and how Luke had come to the inn to ask her about writing a letter. "It's not due for a few weeks, but I was just trying to get some thoughts down."

"That's nice of you to help out," Rory said. "Especially considering the situation with April kind of led to some rough times for you guys."

"Yeah, well, this is important," Lorelai said. "He deserves to have some parental rights."

"Yes, he does," Rory agreed.

"I went into the diner this morning, by the way," Lorelai added. "You'll probably see it on the Stars Hollow website."

"How was it? Was it weird?"

"Not as weird as I thought it might be," Lorelai confirmed, and then patted Rory's knee. "So... enough about me. Anything _you_ wanna talk about? Logan... Lucy... life... anything else that starts with L?"

Rory shook her head. "Not right now. I just need to relax and not think about anything for a little while."

"Okay." Lorelai picked up the remote and handed it to her. "Pick a movie, any movie."

. . . . .

. . . . .

That night, Lorelai went through her nighttime routine and got settled in her bed, and then she called Luke at his apartment.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Hey," Lorelai greeted him. "Did I wake you?"

"No, I'm up." He was pleasantly surprised to hear from her. "What are you doing?"

"Um, I just got ready for bed, and wanted to briefly say hello."

Luke smiled into the phone. "Hello."

"Hey."

"How's Rory?"

"Um, she's okay. She's having some friend drama and some Logan drama, so she needed to escape to the Hollow tonight." Lorelai paused for a moment. "I told her that I'm ending it with Chris."

Luke's eyes widened. "Wow."

"Yeah. I wasn't expecting to have to do that already, and definitely not before I actually told Chris, so I just had to wing it."

"How'd she take it?"

"Better than I expected, actually," Lorelai replied. "She's at an age where she understands how relationships work and how the heart knows what it wants and doesn't want, and how sometimes things just aren't right."

"Good. That's good that she gets it."

"I didn't tell her about you... about _us,_ " Lorelai added. "That there's going to be an _us_ again. One thing at a time."

"Okay."

"And you were right earlier," Lorelai told him. "We have to draw a line and stay behind it. We shouldn't repeat the storage room activities until things are straightened out over here."

"I'm good with that."

"As amazing as those activities were."

"Beyond amazing."

"It was always like that with us," Lorelai mused. "We were always very good at it."

"Mmhmm. And we still are."

They were both quiet for a moment before Lorelai said, "Okay, we probably shouldn't talk about it. It's just fueling the desire to want to do it again."

"Yeah, it is." Luke paused for a second. "But I can still _think_ about it as I'm falling asleep, right?"

Lorelai giggled. "Yeah, you can think about it. Might give you some interesting dreams."

"Okay, good."

Lorelai glanced at the clock. "So, I should probably get to bed. I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks for the call."

"Goodnight."

"Night."

. . . . .

. . . . .

**To be continued...**


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Lorelai and Rory walked into the diner and sat down at a table.

Lorelai noticed some customers looking in their direction. "Okay, I don't think the news spread about my return to the diner yesterday," she said to Rory. "People still look surprised that I'm here."

"Maybe they're just surprised that you're already back to a daily routine so soon," Rory said.

"Well, they had to know that once I got back on Luke's coffee, it would require daily visits to satisfy the addiction."

"Some people don't understand the power of caffeine."

"Blasphemy." Lorelai saw Luke heading over to their table with mugs of coffee. "Ooh, speaking of which..."

"Hey," he greeted them as he set the mugs down.

"Hi," Lorelai replied, and she gestured to Rory. "This is my daughter, Rory. Not sure if you remember her, it's been awhile."

Luke smirked and nodded toward Rory. "Hey, Rory."

"Hi, Luke."

"How's school going?" he asked her.

"Oh, it's good," Rory replied with a nod. "Senior year... classes, working on the paper, trying to prepare for post-graduation life, you know... all that fun stuff."

"Sounds busy," he said.

"Very," Rory replied. "How are you? Anything new and exciting going on?"

Luke shifted his feet uncomfortably as he tried to avoid looking at Lorelai. He shrugged. "Oh, no, not really. Same old stuff." He pulled out his order pad. "You two ready to order or you need a minute?"

"I'll have pancakes," Lorelai replied.

"French toast, please," Rory said.

"Bacon or sausage?" Luke asked.

"Both," they both replied.

Luke smiled. "Coming up." He jotted the order down as he walked toward the counter.

Rory watched him walk away, and then raised an eyebrow at Lorelai. "Okay, that was weird."

Lorelai gasped softly. "What do you mean? It was perfectly casual and normal."

" _That's_ what was weird about it," Rory clarified. "It was like nothing had happened at all between you guys. How could you two be _that_ relaxed around each other after one day back at the diner?"

Lorelai glanced over at Luke, and then back at Rory. "Well, we kind of apologized to each other and that broke the ice and helped us get over the awkward hump." She didn't mention that the impulsive sex in the storage room also helped break the ice.

"Well, that's good, I guess," Rory said, and then she exhaled a sigh. "I hope when Lucy and I inevitably go months without talking because she hates me that we'll reconcile just as easily."

Lorelai frowned. "Give it time. She doesn't hate you, she's just upset. She'll get over it, and you guys will make up."

"I hope so." Rory took a sip of her coffee, and then set the mug down and looked at Lorelai. "So, Mom, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Okay," Lorelai replied.

"Last night, I was thinking about how I'm supposed to go to London for Christmas," Rory started.

Lorelai frowned. "Oh, no... are you thinking of canceling because of what Logan did with the Lucy situation? Was it that bad?"

Rory shook her head. "No, I was upset with him, but I'm sure we'll be fine," she replied. "But... no, I mean... if you and Dad aren't gonna be together, what are you gonna do... spend Christmas alone?"

Lorelai's eyes widened slightly. "Oh, right." She hadn't really thought about that. "Well, we said we're gonna wait to celebrate Christmas together when you get back anyway, remember?"

"Yeah, but still... I'm gonna feel horrible if you're alone on Christmas Day," Rory said. "I feel like I should maybe postpone the trip."

"Absolutely not," Lorelai said, shaking her head. "You've been looking forward to that trip for 6 months."

"But - "

"Rory, it's not a big deal, I promise," Lorelai assured her. "We weren't going to do anything Christmassy here without you. December 25th was going to be just another day, and it still will be... I'll watch movies and relax and eat junk, and then you and I will celebrate it up right when you get back."

"Are you sure?" Rory asked, still looking hesitant about the situation.

"I'm one hundred percent sure," Lorelai assured her, and then patted Rory's arm. "But thank you for the offer to stay, that was very sweet."

"You're welcome."

At that moment, Luke walked over with their plates of food. As he set them down, Lorelai smiled to herself as she thought about how she was pretty sure she would not be alone on Christmas Day.

. . . . .

. . . . .

After breakfast, Rory headed back to Yale and Lorelai headed to the inn.

In the early afternoon, she finally got a call from Chris, and she took a deep breath before she opened up her cell phone. "Hello?" she answered. "Chris?"

"Hi, Lor."

"How are you doing?" she asked calmly, anxious to find out what type of mood he was in today.

Chris exhaled a breath into the phone. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry," he said quietly.

The tenseness in her body softened a little. "Okay..."

"For disappearing, for snapping at you, all of it, I'm sorry," he continued. "You didn't deserve that."

"Thank you. I'm sorry, too."

"I left work early and I'm on my way home now... can you meet me there to talk?"

Lorelai's heart started to race with nervousness. "Um, yeah, yes, sure. I'll meet you there in like 20 minutes."

"Okay. Bye, Lor."

"Bye."

Lorelai hung up the phone and immediately headed to the kitchen. Sookie was chatting with a member of her staff, and when she saw Lorelai's face, she abruptly excused herself from the conversation and walked over to Lorelai.

"What's going on, honey?" Sookie asked.

Lorelai held up her phone. "Chris just called, he's on his way home. He asked if I could meet him there to talk."

Sookie grimaced. "Oh, boy. Are you okay?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yes." She shook her head. "No." She shrugged. "I don't know. I'm nervous. I'm really nervous."

Sookie frowned. "Yeah, this is not going to be a fun conversation. How did he sound on the phone?"

"Much better today than yesterday... much calmer. He even apologized, and he sounded sincere about it."

"Well, that's good," Sookie said. "That'll make it a little easier to talk things out, right?"

Lorelai exhaled a sigh. "It should, but it also just makes me feel like even more of a monster for what I did to him."

"You're not going to be _that_ honest with him, are you?" Sookie asked through clenched teeth.

Lorelai shook her head. "No, I can't. It would kill him. It's bad enough I'm about to break his heart, but telling him what I did would be like stomping on his heart, putting it through a paper shredder, and then blending it up into a smoothie. He'd hate me forever."

"Probably," Sookie agreed.

"And I can't have him hating me," Lorelai continued. "We have a kid, we're always going to be in each other's lives, you know? I need things to stay on somewhat friendly terms. Not to mention, if he finds out, then Rory might find out and then _she'd_ hate me, too."

"I think that's a good idea, not telling him," Sookie said. "It doesn't help anything, and it just adds salt to the wound."

"Right." Lorelai took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. "Okay, wish me luck."

"Good luck. Let me know how it goes."

"I will." Lorelai walked out of the kitchen and went to retrieve her jacket and purse from her office, then stopped at the front desk to go over a few things with Michel.

On her way out to the car, she dialed the diner. Caesar answered, and she had to wait a minute for Luke to finally get on the line.

"Hello?" Luke answered.

"So, I'm on my way home to have _the talk_ ," Lorelai greeted him. "Chris just called, he's meeting me at the house right now."

Luke winced a little, and then he lowered his voice. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Just nervous. I don't know how he's gonna take it, but I'm sure it's going to be an intense discussion."

"Yeah." Luke felt bad that there wasn't anything he could do or say to make things easier for her. "Good luck. Try to keep things as calm as you can... that'll be better than if you guys are screaming at each other."

"I'll try."

"Call me later if you can."

"Okay... bye."

"Bye."

. . . . .

. . . . .

When Lorelai arrived at the house, Christopher's car was already parked out front. She walked toward the front door, and before she opened it, she took a few deep breaths.

She stepped into the house and walked into the living room, and Chris stood up from the couch when she entered. "Hey," he greeted her.

"Hi." She walked toward him and set her purse on the end table, and he gestured for her to sit down.

She sat down, and he sat on the next cushion, leaving some space between them. Their bodies were angled toward each other, and they stared at each other awkwardly for a few moments.

"Why did you leave?" she asked, finally breaking the silence. "What upset you so much that you needed to get away from me that dramatically?"

"Because it seemed like you had doubts about us," Chris replied honestly. "And I didn't know how to deal with that."

"Because I didn't immediately want to have a kid?" Lorelai calmly replied. "You brought it up out of the blue and gave me no time to think about it."

"It's more than that, Lor," Chris told her. "It was this voice in the back of my head telling me that there's something wrong with us that it took you twenty years to marry me."

Lorelai didn't know how to respond, so she didn't. She looked down at her hands in her lap.

"And I thought about it a lot," Chris continued. "I went back and forth. Part of me kept saying... it shouldn't take that long to realize you want someone, should it? But the other part of me kept saying, well, some people need time to realize who they're meant to be with. They need to go through other relationships and learn what they really want, and then the timing has to be right... there are a lot of factors for two people to end up together."

"Yes, there are," she agreed.

"So, I started thinking, maybe it makes sense that twenty years is what it took for us," he said with a shrug. "And I finally got to a point where I wanted to come here and talk everything out and tell you that I'd do anything for you, that I'd do anything to make us work... to make sure this marriage works." He smiled at her and squeezed her hand.

Lorelai tilted her head to the side. "Chris..." she said softly.

And then his smile slowly faded, and he reached for something from the coffee table. "And then I got here and saw this."

Lorelai's eyes widened as he dropped her notepad between them, opened to the draft of her character reference for Luke.

"What is this?" Chris asked.

"It's a character reference that Luke needs to get custody of his kid," Lorelai quickly explained. "He just asked me to do it yesterday... I need to send it to his lawyer for his custody case."

"So, you and your ex-fiancé are chummy again?" Chris asked her. "Because you'd have to be chummy for him to ask you for a favor like that."

"He asked for my help because he desperately needed it," Lorelai told him, trying to avoid actually answering the question. "And I'm not going to say no to something that important."

Chris picked up the notepad and tossed it back onto the coffee table with an exasperated sigh. "He's never going to be out of your life. As long as we're in this town, he's always gonna be around, Lor. He's always going to be that thorn in my side that I can't get rid of, and I'm always going to wonder if..." His voice trailed off and he looked down at the floor.

"Wonder what?" Lorelai prompted him.

Chris lifted his head and looked her point blank in the eyes. "Do you still have feelings for him?"

Lorelai took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly, trying to calm her anxious nerves. She closed her eyes for a moment, and then met his gaze and nodded. "Yes, I do."

His eyes widened with surprise. Not that she still had feelings, but that she'd actually admitted it. He had suspected it, but he had been prepared for her to deny it.

Chris pursed his lips and shook his head. "I knew it. So, where does that leave us, Lor? How am I supposed to live with that, knowing my wife still loves her ex? I'm supposed to just wait it out and hope it goes away? I'm supposed to settle for being your second choice?"

"No, you're not," Lorelai replied gently, and she swallowed hard before she added, "I've been doing some thinking about us... about you and I."

Chris stared at her intently, a pit in his stomach as he waited for her to continue.

"And it's just not right, you know?" she continued. "You and me... it's not right. I don't think marriage is right for us."

"What are you talking about?" Chris asked. "It's you and me, Lor... we've known each other our whole lives."

"Just because two people have known each other for a long time doesn't mean they should get married," she said softly. "There needs to be more than history for a marriage to work."

"Yeah, there needs to be love, which I thought we had," Chris said pointedly.

"I do care about you, Chris," Lorelai insisted. "But, just... not in a strong enough way to make this work. I'm sorry." She gave him a moment to absorb that before she continued, "And I'm telling you with one hundred percent sincerity and honesty that it's _not_ because of Luke. Even if I didn't still have feelings for him, there's still something missing between you and me. You were right about it taking twenty years... there's a reason for that. Something wasn't there, and it's still not. It's not the timing that was keeping us apart, it was more than that."

Chris was still for a bit before he finally gave her a small nod. "I shouldn't have pushed you into the marriage," he said quietly, sadly, as it finally hit him that this was it. She was telling him that it was over, and he wasn't going to try to change her mind.

"I said yes because I wanted to, and I was in this relationship fully... I need you to know that," she told him. "I _wanted_ to marry you, I _wanted_ us to work out, Chris. God, you have no idea how much." She looked up toward the ceiling, and she started to feel tears well up in her eyes.

She had been distracting herself the past two days, and hadn't let herself fully appreciate how emotional this would be. She knew it would be hard, but it was even harder than she'd expected.

Lorelai looked at him as tears started to roll down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry." She sniffled a little and wiped her eyes. "I mean it, I'm so sorry."

"Me, too," he replied, and he reached over and squeezed her hand.

. . . . .

. . . . .

They talked for a little while longer, and then Chris went upstairs to gather some clothes and toiletries to take to his mom's house. As they said goodbye, he told her he'd call her in a few days.

Lorelai was going to call Luke to fill him in, but she needed to get away from the house, so she drove to the diner almost immediately after Chris had left. She parked out front and walked inside, and Luke walked over the moment he saw her.

"It's done," Lorelai told him in almost a whisper.

"Was it okay?"

"It was hard," she admitted, and then she gave a little shrug. "But it went as well as could be expected, I guess. I'm not sure, I've never ended a marriage before."

There was sadness in her eyes, and he knew she'd been through a roller coaster of emotions the past few days. He pulled her into a hug and she hugged him back. There were only a few customers in the diner, and she didn't care if they saw them. She was emotionally exhausted and just needed comforting at that moment.

He stood there hugging her for what felt like a minute or two before he casually glanced out the window. His eyes widened and he pulled back from her.

"Uh, Lorelai," he said. She looked at him, and he nodded toward the window.

Lorelai looked outside and saw Chris standing on the sidewalk staring in at them. She noticed a bag from Doose's in his hand. She guessed he must've stopped to grab something for dinner before heading back to Hartford, and probably walked over when he noticed her Jeep at the diner.

"Oh, my God," Lorelai muttered worriedly, and then added to Luke, "Stay in here." She rushed outside and stepped onto the sidewalk. "Chris..."

The look in his eyes was a mixture of anger and hurt. "What the hell, Lorelai?" Chris asked her. "You couldn't even wait until I was out of town before you ran back to him?"

Lorelai sighed. "Chris, it's not what you think. I came here to get dinner, he saw that I was upset, he gave me a hug, that's it."

"That was more than just a friendly hug, Lor. I'm not blind."

"Chris..."

"Are you gonna get back together with him?" he asked bitterly. "Tell me the truth."

Lorelai glanced into the diner at Luke, and then back at Chris, and admitted, "Yes."

Chris inhaled deeply and exhaled it slowly.

"But I already told you earlier that there were still feelings there," Lorelai quickly added. "It isn't a shocking revelation that he and I might end up together eventually."

"We broke up an hour ago!" Chris exclaimed loudly. Lorelai glanced around nervously and saw people looking in their direction. "It's one thing to get back together with him _eventually_ , but what do you think it looks like when I see my wife with another man _an hour_ after we decide to separate?"

"I don't know, why don't you tell me?" she retorted, folding her arms defensively across her chest. "What does it look like?"

Chris leaned in closer toward her. "You really want me to say it? Fine! It looks like you were having an affair."

Lorelai shook her head. "Chris, stop, please. You know me... you know that I -"

"...that you wouldn't do that?" Chris interrupted, finishing her sentence. "You _did_ do that, Lor! You ended your relationship with _him_ by sleeping with _me!_ " He shook his head at the sidewalk. "I can't believe this."

And now Lorelai had to do her best to convince him that there wasn't anything going on with Luke.

Lorelai stepped closer to him and calmly said, "Chris, look at me." She put her hand on his arm. "Look at me. Calm down." He lifted his head to meet her gaze. "We're both upset and you're overreacting about this."

"Overreacting?" Chris exclaimed. "Overreacting? How am I overreacting? This is a _normal_ reaction to finding your wife with another man an hour after she tells you she doesn't want to stay married to you."

"I already told you that you and I didn't end because of Luke, and I meant that," Lorelai said. "If Luke wasn't around, you and I still would've ended."

"That's not the point here! The point is that Luke _is_ around, and it looks like you're together."

"Okay, whether we're together now or we'll be together soon, that doesn't mean anything else was going on," Lorelai countered. "I came here _after_ we talked, _after_ you and I were separated."

Chris pointed toward the diner. "And you're telling me _that_ was the first time he found out that you and him had a chance to get back together? No way... it's too calculated, it's too well-timed. You didn't just walk in there and say 'I'm single now' and he just swooped in and hugged you like that. There _had_ to be more than that... there had to be something else."

Lorelai inhaled sharply and huffed out a frustrated sigh. She didn't want to keep lying to him, it made her feel terrible... and she also didn't want to make matters worse by being completely honest. But she felt like she needed to give him some sort of closure on this or he'd always wonder about it.

"Look, you wanna know what happened? I'll tell you," she finally said with a defeated sigh. "You deserve to know so you're not driving yourself crazy. And yeah, it's probably gonna upset you, but just let me explain before you flip out on me, okay?"

His body tensed up - he could feel his anger already rising, and he didn't even know what she was about to say. He took a few deep breaths as he waited for her to continue.

Lorelai exhaled slowly before she started to explain. "Yesterday, I knew that I was ready to end the marriage. I knew it wasn't right, I knew it wasn't fixable. I hadn't been able to tell _you_ that yet because you had disappeared, and I had no idea _when_ I was going to be able to talk to you about it." She was speaking quickly but calmly. "I did, however, run into Luke and I mentioned to him what was going on, and we both verbally expressed an interest in rekindling a relationship. That's how things unfolded. _That's_ why it looks like we talked about it... because we did, okay? You were right, it was more than just today, we did have a conversation, I'm sorry."

Christopher's shock was evident by the dropped jaw while she'd been talking. She gritted her teeth and took a step back from him as she prepared for his reaction.

" _He_ knew our marriage was ending before I did?" he exclaimed. "Are you serious right now?" Chris looked toward the diner with anger, like he was fighting the urge to storm in there and attack Luke.

"I'm sorry about that part, okay? I am!" Lorelai quickly replied. "I'm just trying to tell you there was nothing going on. It was a _discussion_ we had, yes, and I'm sorry that it happened out of order like it did, but I can't take it back. You disappeared and things just got all out of whack."

"I have to get outta here," Chris muttered, and he turned and started walking away.

Lorelai followed him and reached for his arm. "Chris, come on, please stop," she urged. "You can't run away every time things get hard for the rest of your life. And we're going to be in each other's lives _forever_ , we have a kid. She needs us to be civil with each other. Think about Rory here... put _her_ first, please."

He stopped walking, but he didn't turn around. "Does Rory know, too? About you and me?"

Lorelai grimaced a little. He probably wasn't going to like the answer to that. "Yes. I told her yesterday."

Chris sighed and rubbed his temple. "Jesus. What did you say to her?"

"I told her exactly what I told _you_ , that it didn't feel right, that something was missing." Lorelai moved to stand in front of him, but he didn't look at her. "I know this is hard for you, Chris... it's hard for me, too. It wasn't easy for me to realize that it wasn't going to work out with the man who has been this possible partner for almost my entire life. Those were real tears on the couch earlier... I'm just as emotional about this as you are." She pressed her palms together and sincerely added, "I swear on everything in this world that I desperately wanted us to work out."

Chris finally brought his gaze to her, but he didn't say anything.

"You and I weren't going to be happy together in the long run," Lorelai continued, her voice softening. "And it's really disappointing and it's hard, but it's going to be even harder if we don't handle this right. I want us to still be friends. We need to still support each other for Rory's sake, we should want each other to be happy."

Chris stared at her for a few seconds. "I wanted to be the one to make you happy," he finally said. "That's what I wanted."

Lorelai frowned, and she nodded understandingly. "I know. I wanted that, too."

Chris nodded a little. He did believe her when she said that she wanted them to last.

After a few moments of silence, he gestured toward his car parked down toward the market. "Look, I'm gonna go. I heard what you said, and I need to just cool down and wrap my mind around all of this, but I'll call you in a few days."

Lorelai nodded. "Okay." She watched him walk toward the car, and then she headed back toward the diner.

Luke had been nervously watching them from inside, and he pulled open the door when she reached it. "Everything okay?" he asked.

She stepped inside, glanced around at the few customers in there, all either blatantly looking at them or pretending not to be listening, and then took his hand and led him to the storage room without saying a word.

They closed the door and turned to face each other. "God, I think that was more draining that what happened at the house," Lorelai said with a sigh.

"What happened?" he asked.

"He asked if I was having an affair," she told him, and Luke's eyes widened. "He said it's weird that I'd come to you right after things ended with him if there wasn't already something going on."

"What'd you say?"

Lorelai explained how she handled it, and then shook her head disappointedly. "I feel horrible. I feel like a really horrible person right now, Luke."

"You're not horrible."

"Yes, I really am," she insisted with an assertive nod. "There's no other way to spin it... I'm the textbook definition of horrible. Not just because of what we did in this room, but also because now I have to keep lying to people."

"Lorelai..."

"Not to mention, when I first invited you over last night, I wanted us to have sex again," she continued, her voice rising as she got angrier at herself. "That's what I wanted... sex, in my house, in the bed I had shared with my husband _two days ago_. Even though I was married and still hadn't told my husband I wanted out. _That_ is horrible!" She had been rattling off her thoughts quickly, and she took a break for a breath and to scoff at herself, and then she pointed at him. "Thankfully _you_ had the moral compass to point out that I might regret it and that we needed to wait, but what the hell is wrong with me that I even considered it? I knew it was wrong, but I still considered it!"

"You were upset with him, you were emotional, you were just trying to find a way to distract yourself," Luke offered. "You were going through a lot, give yourself a break."

"I should've read a book or watched a movie or drank myself into oblivion, not tried to distract myself with another round of adulterous behavior!" she exclaimed with an exasperated sigh. "It's bad enough that we had _one_ round."

She was upset and frustrated with herself and her actions, and Luke wasn't sure how to fix it.

He stepped closer to her and put his hands on her shoulders. "Calm down, it's okay. Come here." He pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry that we did that and that you have to keep it a secret and keep lying about it. We shouldn't have done it. _I_ know that, _you_ know that, and we stopped after that one time. We didn't repeat it, even if we both wanted to... and yes, we _both_ wanted to. You think I didn't want to come over for the same reason you wanted me to come over? Of course I did. We _both_ considered it, not just you."

Lorelai sighed softly against his chest, and Luke held her tightly. She didn't say anything for a minute, they just hugged in silence, and he wondered what was going through her head.

"Tell me what you're thinking," he finally said.

"I'm not thinking anything, I just feel bad," she muttered. "I feel like a bad person and I want that feeling to go away."

Luke rubbed her back. "You're not a bad person."

Lorelai hugged him a little tighter. "Thank you, but I think you might be biased."

Luke kissed the top of her head. He was quiet for a moment, and then asked, "Are you having second thoughts? About us, I mean."

Lorelai pulled her head back to look at him, her eyes narrowed with surprise at the question. "No, of course not. Are you?"

"No, but I understand if you wanna take some time for yourself and not rush into it," Luke told her. "I want you to be ready. If you need time, I'll wait. You asked me something like that the other day, and I don't think I answered... not in words, anyway."

Lorelai smiled. "No, you didn't."

"Well, I think you already know the answer," he told her. "But in case I have to formally announce it... yes, I will wait for you."

Lorelai smiled and gently caressed his face with her hand. She watched her fingers as they moved up and down his cheek, less scruffy than usual because of his recent shave. She drifted into a daze for a few seconds, and Luke just watched her, waiting patiently for her to share her thoughts.

Finally, she brought her gaze to his eyes and asked, "Are we gonna be able to just pick up where we left off?"

"Yes," he replied without hesitation.

"Really?" she asked with hopefulness. "Even after everything that's happened?"

"Yes." Luke rested his hands on her waist. "Lorelai, I love you," he calmly said, and she smiled at hearing the words. "I never stopped, even with everything that happened." He paused for a beat. "And I don't wanna assume anything, but it kind of seems like you feel the same way..." His voice trailed off as he waited for confirmation.

Lorelai nodded, a smile still on her lips. "Of course I do, Luke... I love you, too."

God, it felt good to hear her say that again, and he smiled at her before leaning in to kiss her.

As he pulled back, he said, "So, then, yes, we're gonna pick up where we left off. And we're gonna communicate better, and we're gonna get married like we were supposed to, and I'm gonna do everything in my power to make you happy and make sure we don't lose each other again." He shrugged as he added, "And if I have to wait a little while before all that can happen, then I'll wait for as long as you need me to wait."

Lorelai's smile widened, and she was staring up at him with an adoring look in her eyes. "I don't need to wait."

Luke cocked his head to the side. "Are you sure?"

Lorelai nodded. "This is what I want. _You_ are what I want." She ran her hands down his arms and took his hands into hers. "We're not rushing into anything. It's the opposite, actually... we're playing catch-up. We lost a lot of time that we need to make up for. I don't want to waste anymore time, Luke. We don't want to become that stupid couple that just sits around and wastes time, do we?"

Luke smiled and shook his head. "No, we don't."

"Good, it's settled... we are coupled," Lorelai declared. "No waiting, no wasting time."

They shared another kiss and a hug, and when they pulled back, Luke said, "Okay, we're coupled, but I think it's been a long, emotional day, and it probably makes sense for us to maybe wait at least until tomorrow to... you know... kick things off."

Lorelai smirked and raised an eyebrow. "You mean... to cross any lines," she said, and then she nodded in agreement. "Good idea. I'm exhausted right now anyway... physically, mentally, all the other words that end in -ly."

"Okay, so, how about tomorrow night, you come over to my place... I'll cook you dinner," he suggested. "We'll stay in, talk, relax... how's that?"

Lorelai smiled and nodded. "It's a date."

. . . . .

. . . . .

The next evening, he greeted her at his apartment door, and as soon as she stepped inside, their lips immediately met in a passionate kiss. They separated briefly, and she sniffed a few times as she looked over toward the kitchen. "Dinner smells good."

"Thanks. It's ready."

Lorelai pressed her lips back to his. "But you're keeping it warm, right?" she muttered through the kiss.

"Mmhmm," he quickly murmured against her lips.

He'd called her earlier to let her know when dinner would be ready. They chatted for a little while. They flirted. They agreed that it might be hard to sit through dinner without getting handsy. It was Lorelai who suggested they _start off_ handsy and _then_ have dinner. That way they wouldn't be tempted to rush through the meal just to get to other things they were looking forward to. He was on board with that plan.

He helped take her jacket off as they made their way over to the bed. They fell onto it kissing tenderly, and she had flashbacks to the many times they'd been in that bed together before.

Clothes were quickly strewn onto the floor, and they slipped beneath the covers. Luke's mouth went to her neck and chest while her hands began to explore his body. They took their time caressing, stroking, kissing, teasing each other, building up their arousal. They moaned, flirted, and made each other laugh... it was comfortable and playful and guilt-free.

Luke eventually kissed his way down her body to her lower half. He kissed her thighs before he began to use his tongue and lips on her center, evoking those sexy noises from her that he thrived on. She ran her fingers through his hair as he reminded her of how skillfully talented he was with his mouth.

It was a few minutes before he pushed himself up onto his knees and reached for the condom from the shelf behind the bed. He put it on and positioned himself over her body, poised at her entrance, and gently inched his length inside her.

She let out a long moan as she took him in, followed by long sigh of approval. She stared up at him with desire, with need, and Luke leaned down to kiss her deeply, parting her lips with his tongue in search of hers. He kissed her until he couldn't breathe, and then reluctantly pulled back for a breath.

Their gazes were locked for a moment in complete stillness before he began moving inside of her. She gasped gently at first, and then started moaning softly with his motions. Lorelai's hands had become adequately reacquainted with his strong, firm body in the past few minutes and were now affectionately gliding up and down the sides of his midsection.

For an encounter that started off so intensely at the door, his pace now was romantically slow, like he was making love to her for the first time. They smiled, they kissed, they whispered into each other's ears. It was intoxicating to be back together, to remember how perfect everything felt when they were intimately connected.

Their bodies moved together in a sensual rhythm until they both found release, and then Luke moved to lie beside her on the bed. Lorelai was on her back, and Luke propped himself up on his forearm beside her. He caressed her stomach with his hand as their eyes were locked and they smiled at each other.

"That was quite an appetizer round," Lorelai remarked.

"Mmhmm," Luke agreed, and he glanced toward the kitchen. "Are you hungry? I'll go make sure dinner's still warm."

"Let's relax for a few minutes first," she suggested. "Pre-dinner pillow talk."

"Okay."

Lorelai started stroking his arm with her hand. "So, I talked to Rory today and told her what was going on... that you and I were going to start seeing each other again."

Luke winced, nervous to hear how that conversation went. "How'd she take it?"

"Well, she wondered the same thing that Chris did, if I left him for you," Lorelai admitted. "I explained that I would've left him anyway... I reminded her that it wasn't right."

"So, she's okay with _us_?"

"She seemed to be," Lorelai replied. "She asked some questions though. You know, like if it was too fast to move on, if I should wait a little while and make sure things are all settled emotionally. There was a comment about maybe taking more than one day in between getting separated and dating someone else."

Luke smirked. "Yeah, I'm sure everyone has that same thought. What'd you say?"

"I told her that would be smart if I was jumping into a brand new relationship," Lorelai replied. "But I'm not... I'm going back to the one I should've been in all along."

Luke smiled. "Exactly."

Lorelai paused a moment and hesitantly said, "She asked about April... if you and I had talked about that situation, if it would be different than it was before."

"And you told her it would be, right?" Luke asked. "Because it will be, I promise you that."

Lorelai nodded. "I know, I told her that." She shrugged as she added, "She's just worried about me, you know? It's not about you, or about not wanting us to be a couple. She just doesn't want me to move too fast and get hurt. She wants me to be sure."

"Yeah."

"I told her I'm sure," she added with a smile.

Luke smiled. "Good."

"Also, just so you know, I had a chat with Babette today," Lorelai said, pausing to see his reaction.

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, boy."

Lorelai smiled. "I filled her in on everything, gave her all the juicy gossip she'd need on the whole 'Chris is out, Luke is back' scenario so she can make sure the town is adequately filled in."

"Oh, goody," he said dryly.

"If they know everything up front, it'll hopefully help _us_ from getting a ton of questions," she told him.

"Or everyone could just mind their damn business and not insert themselves into our lives."

Lorelai patted his arm. "That's not how it works in Stars Hollow, buddy... you know that." Luke rolled his eyes again.

They were quiet for a few moments. Luke's hand was still on her stomach, and Lorelai was delicately tracing her finger along his fingers. She moved her nose closer to the pillow case beneath her head and sniffed it. She smiled at him and said, "These linens smell freshly laundered."

"Because they are," he confirmed, and gave her a wink. "I still know how to treat a lady."

Lorelai giggled. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He couldn't stop staring at her, smiling at her. There had been such a shift in his mood the past few days. Even with other things going on, he was just happy to have her back in his life, to be _sharing_ his life with her.

Lorelai felt the same way. "You meant what you said yesterday, right?" she asked softly. "That we'll pick up where we left off... that we'll get..." She paused for a moment, almost hesitant to say it out loud so soon, even though he'd already said it the day before.

"... married?" Luke finished.

"Yeah."

"Yeah, that's what I want. Isn't that what _you_ want?"

Lorelai rolled onto her side and propped herself up on her forearm to face him. "That's what I've always wanted." She thought for a moment and then added, "I mean, not _always_ like since I was a little kid, I didn't know you back then. I meant since we started dating and got engaged, you know... I've wanted it since _then_."

Luke smiled. "I got it." He rested his hand on her hip. "Well, once you officially, legally become unattached, I'm gonna make you an honest woman."

Lorelai smiled at him. "Okay, good." She traced her finger along his jawline. "So... do you think we should plan a big wedding like last time?"

"We can do whatever you want," Luke replied with a shrug. "Elopement, big wedding, small wedding, church wedding, a wedding on a public bus... I don't care, as long as it ends with us finally married."

Lorelai smiled. "Wow, anything I want, huh? Such power." She pondered for a moment. "So, hypothetically, if I wanted a winter wedding on an ice skating rink in the front yard..."

Luke smirked. "Then I'll set up the good old rink in a box."

"And if I wanted a springtime wedding under the chuppah covered with flowers?"

"Then I'll personally hang strings of flowers on it until it looks exactly like you want it to."

Lorelai grinned at him, and he smiled back at her. There was a calm sense of relief knowing they were back on track toward the future they had previously envisioned together.

Luke moved some strands of her hair away from her face. "And then, you know, after that... if you still want to, we can maybe try - "

"Yes," she interrupted.

"... for a kid," Luke finished.

"Yes," she repeated, smiling at him. She loved being able to reply to that without one ounce of hesitation. "Definitely yes."

Luke smiled back at her and gave her a nod. "Okay. It's a plan."

Lorelai leaned in to kiss him, then smiled through the kiss. "It's a plan."

. . . . .

. . . . .

**The End.**


End file.
